Saving Old Seagulls

At Keith's behest I have just trolled through the illustrations on the main site pages, looking for Bakerlite plug caps, on the 102 page is a line drawing dated 1946 clearly showing a cutaway plug cap, & on the little model 40 page a couple of Seagull's pictures including caps, though no evidence of any Tufnel collars to be seen.

Plug cap part no. 1279 in 1946.

Charles uk wrote:At Keith's behest I have just trolled through the illustrations on the main site pages, looking for Bakerlite plug caps, on the 102 page is a line drawing dated 1946 clearly showing a cutaway plug cap, & on the little model 40 page a couple of Seagull's pictures including caps, though no evidence of any Tufnel collars to be seen.

Plug cap part no. 1279 in 1946.

Hence the reason they have champion stamped on them....and not british seagull. ..

Back to props: I have my props straightened out. Have a three blade about 8" on the FVP, and a four blade 8" to go on my LS. LS prop will need polishing . Great progress. This has been VERY ENLIGHTENING, AND HELPFUL. BTW: 12 deg. Far. this morning here, 18 Deg. Far this afternoon. As it warmed up a bit. WB

Can you please post a pic of the 8" three blade.
Are your cast props soft? Most of the castings I do end up quite hard, there is no way that I could "beat" a prop into shape without breaking a blade or atleast chipping it.
What are you using as a source of aluminium for you props?

Nudge, Here is a picture of my FVP three blade clover leaf prop. It is original Seagull, not re cast. As to hard and soft castings, I do not get technical with my metal sources. I use old outboard motor bits and pieces, so I get a mixture. Best Scrap Ali for casting I find is old pistons, Outboard or Automotive. With general scrap mixtures , I too sometimes get castings that are not soft. Mostly softer alloys are not cast but wrought. There are complex annealing cycles that castings can also be put through that will soften them, but in my case , since I do not really know what is in them, it is not possible to choose a specific heat treatment. I use an atmospheric - propane furnace I built to do the melting, in a cast iron pot that has a ceramic wash on the surface to minimize iron atoms from getting in the Ali. also attached is a picture of my moulding bench. This is in my permanent 15" X 30" foundry attached to my garage. WB

Its an interesting little foundry you have there Art. With those winter temps a good way to keep warm too!

I like the look of that prop! I may have to keep my eyes open for one!

I use a lot of car parts for getting Aluminium

I heat to hot short then pull all the steel out.
Heat it up pour it out

My setup runs on waste oil.

How much do you think it would cost to ship a copy of that prop to New Zealand, to use as a pattern.

Nudge, Please PM me about that 3 blade prop. I am just getting ready to send a few patterns to a foundry in Canada , so the timing would be good to send that prop for casting. I cannot do casting in winter. It is winter here. 12 deg. Far. this morning. WB

Sent you a PM..
Won't be able to afford one at this stage, Thanks for looking into it for me.

20F..... Too cold for me, you can keep it! It's cold enough for me at 50F (10C)
I can cast all year round. It is only the rain that stops me. (and time )

Nudge, OK, Sorry it did not work out. Keep looking for one. WB

All good thanks for trying.

Here's one. Shame to dissemble the aussie bushcraft fencing wire shear spring replacement. It's a boomerang if it helps you....

It's a boomerang if it helps you....

That helps me heaps...... I will give you a shout when I see you on line.

Gotta love that bit of engineering I guess if you are up a creek and hit a log,and that is all that is around to get you home.

That will have to go back as is once done!

Interestingly it wasn't fencing wire but copper which would have sheared before the gears would have kaputted!

Ready:

So it must have been done in the shed at home then!
Would have a better story if it was fencing wire and a fix it to get home!